What Would Bonhoeffer Say? By Al Staggs (Parson’s Porch Books) Al Staggs is an itinerant performance artist who has been dramatically interpreting Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Walter Rauschenbusch, Archbishop Oscar Romero, Clarence Jordan and Thomas Merton for decades. He’s a theologian who,…
U.S. colleges adding Muslim chaplains
ITHACA, N.Y. (RNS) — When Jainal Bhuiyan attended Cornell University, he and his fellow Muslim students were mentored and led in religious prayers by a collection of Muslim professors, graduate students and staff. “That was our network that filled the…
Annual contributions from BGAV churches in 2010 are listed
The Baptist General Association of Virginia treasurer's office has released a detailed summary of Cooperative Missions gifts for the period Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2010, from churches affiliated with the BGAV. Questions about the report may be directed to the treasurer's office…
More U.S. colleges adding Muslim chaplains
ITHACA, N.Y. (RNS) — When Jainal Bhuiyan attended Cornell University, he and his fellow Muslim students were mentored and led in religious prayers by a collection of Muslim professors, graduate students and staff. “That was our network that filled the…
Churches need social networking policies
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — Social networking tools using the Internet through computers and smart phones are powerful aids for communicating, but churches should have policies in place governing their use before problems arise, a computer programmer advised in a breakout…
Couple fights ‘choking game’ tragedy
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — A dangerous thrill-seeking practice commonly called "the choking game" is claiming hundreds of teenage lives as it crosses the line from dangerous to deadly. No one knows how many children die from practicing this "game," which…
Sidebar: Website warns of risky behaviors promoted on Internet
(ABP) — A group called Cyberhood Watch has listed what it considers the top 10 dangerous behaviors promoted by teens. Site managers Dave Ballard and Bill Wardell cite the eagerness of teens to share their exploits with others online with…
From the Eastern Shore to Cumberland Gap
STAFF CHANGES • Doug Davis, to Poroporone Church, Shacklefords, as pastor. • Don Wilson, to Nelson Church, Nelson, as senior pastor. MISSION MOMENT: For Children’s Ministry Day on Feb. 19, the children of Orange Baptist Church in Orange visited the…
EDITORIAL: The unpredictable journey through Baptist life
How are things in the Tarheel state? It depends on who you ask. To basketball fanatics who follow the Blue Devils or the Tarheels, we won’t know until they have recovered enough to respond. We can imagine their outlook on…
Filmmaker discusses faith, forgiveness on ‘The View’
NEW YORK (ABP) — A filmmaker promoting a movie based on his family's tragedy explained on national television March 25 how he not only could believe in a God that would allow his parents to be murdered and his family…
Baptist ethicist says US role in Libya fails ‘just war’ test
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) – A Baptist ethicist said March 25 that President Obama's stated intent for U.S. military intervention in Libya lies outside parameters used for centuries to determine whether a war is morally just. Speaking March 19 in Brazil,…
Small groups ‘catapult’ members into larger life of the church and world
ALLEN, Texas (ABP)—When a Connections class at First Baptist Church in Allen, Texas, began meeting in January a year ago, its diverse membership included a self-proclaimed atheist who attended because he had a friend at church, three unmarried cohabiting couples…